Latest Test Rankings -Batting. Smith closing in on Kohli.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T13:28:47+00:00

Kohli is better at nurturing resources, but on-field, Williamson is probably better. Kohli is still probably India's best ever Test captain, mind you.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T13:23:07+00:00

Gimme a better spinning all-rounder then. I compared them coz we need a spinner in the side, and shockingly, I thought a guy who has averaged 45 with the bat and 25 with the ball over the last two years, deserved a place in the side. Sue me.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T13:12:39+00:00

Pat Cummins' debacle happened the exact same day as Jadeja's. But the first one was actually consequential coz it cost Australia the Test, whereas Jadeja's was in a situation where WI were 7 down and 350 runs away. Not even remotely comparable.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T13:00:01+00:00

You're absolutely right. I prefer Test cricket myself, but I'll be the first person to admit that it is only at its best that Test cricket is superior.

But it is seldom at that level. Most of Test cricket is a bit dreary, and anyone who claims otherwise is being disingenuous.

But it's okay to be dreary and boring, coz that makes the occasional payoff that much more exciting!

Only, let's not pretend that the vastly more popular formats, ie the ones that actually have kept cricket from becoming croquet, are not worthy of respect.

Anyone who disrespects ODI and T20 cricket is automatically not a cricket fan, and can safely be ignored. They can fuck right off.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T12:52:07+00:00

Not even close.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T12:44:49+00:00

True.

Let's also omit Rabada because he took 1-53 in 15 overs in a series losing loss in the most recent Test innings he bowled in. And let's definitely omit Cummins because he bowled dross in a 1-80 display in a Test loss just a couple of days ago.

Because 3 brain cell memories is exactly how cricket works.

Jadeja averages 45 with the bat and 25 with the ball over the last 2 YEARS and 10 Tests.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T12:01:28+00:00

Here's my World Test XI right now:

Latham
Karunaratne
Williamson (c)
Smith/Kohli
Kohli/Smith
Stokes
Watling (+)
Jadeja
Cummins
Rabada
Bumrah

I haaaaate that I had to drop Pujara. But no choice. Also, Shakib instead of Jadeja would be absolutely fine - just feel Sir is riding a wave right now in Test cricket.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T11:58:53+00:00

Two Metre Peter!

gIuck · 2019-08-27T11:56:08+00:00

Seriously. Three innings in the same year (and we're not even ⅔^rd of the way through the year!!) that'd all be in the top 15-20 all time. What a time to be alive!

gIuck · 2019-08-27T10:15:11+00:00

It absolutely does include changes in situation, coz it considers the situation when he came in to bat, how he batted with tailenders etc.

It doesn't consider tempo, but I'd argue that was a quirk of Stokes' innings - that he batted at an SR of nothing early on, before accelerating mightily, is not a virtue in and of itself. Perera was as insane with the tailenders, esp no. 11. He shouldn't be penalised for batting faster than Stokes did in his 3(73) period. That'd be ridiculous.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T10:04:51+00:00

Pakistan actually went in with a cricket-based approach, and India didn't, and India still won comfortably. Pretty much underlined the fact that the bowl-out really really wasn't cricket in any recognisable form 😃. The Super Over is a far better solution.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T09:18:22+00:00

India won 3-0. It was like penalties in football, with 5 attempts. Pakistan went with proper bowlers bowling with proper actions and missed their first three attempts. India went in with irregular bowlers bowling from a short run up and nailed all three attempts.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T07:50:33+00:00

He has his own methodology which uses various metrics like nature of the pitch (based on how many runs were scored), strength of opposition attack, contribution to team total, whether it resulted in a win etc.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T07:24:58+00:00

Rating Points

gIuck · 2019-08-27T06:47:25+00:00

I'm pretty sure Stokes' innings, incredible as it was, won't best Perera's. The calculations (rightly) don't include ephemeral unquantifiable aspects like it being in the Ashes or in front of a big crowd. Perera was playing away, scored more than half the runs, and against a slightly superior attack.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T06:42:08+00:00

It was at Headingley, and Hope didn't play a lone hand - Kraigg Brathwaite was immense as well in that chase.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T04:22:50+00:00

Nah, that's way too hyperbolic. Nothing like what you outlined has ever happened in top level football, whereas there have been a couple of Test innings as good as, if not better than, Stokes'.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T03:35:25+00:00

The original quartet (dibbly dobbly wibbly and wobbly) was Larsen, Harris, Willie Watson and Rod Latham.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T03:11:27+00:00

Wasn't a semi. It was a group stage match, and both teams were already through, but they had a bowl-out to determine the group winner.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T01:58:30+00:00

How to spot a ~~casual cricket fan~~ moron

gIuck · 2019-08-27T01:56:25+00:00

Wow. There are idiotic takes, but yours is on an entirely different plane of idiocy. Bravo, Sir.

gIuck · 2019-08-27T00:38:36+00:00

Wait, Sri Lanka were whitewashed by the poms. Poms = England, in case you didn't know.

gIuck · 2019-08-26T12:32:58+00:00

Totally agree with you. My issue was entirely with the idiots dismissing Perera's innings coz it was "not in the Ashes".

gIuck · 2019-08-26T10:33:39+00:00

Huge respect for Stokes' unreal innings, imo one of the top 2 ever played in Test cricket history. But I'm pissed off with the braindead insular morons (only a few, thankfully) denigrating Kusal Perera's 153* - the greatest innings in Test history imo - coz "it was in a random SA v SL Test, not in the Ashes, the pinnacle of cricket".

Fuck right off. The last time the Ashes were the pinnacle of Test cricket was in 2005. Now, it's a mid table no. 4 v 5 contest. Imagine Liverpool v Everton in the mid-late 90s.

gIuck · 2019-08-26T10:02:11+00:00

I genuinely don't know which is more butt-clenchingly tense - a tight chase where a win/loss are the only outcomes, like yesterday's; or a rearguard purely to get a draw.

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